XM Satellite Radio Consumer Reviews - Page 8

I have been an XM subscriber for 5 yrs, on and off again. I have no idea why I have continued to go back for the abuse year after year, but I have. When you subscribe to XM they take your credit card information so that when your subscription is up, they can automatically apply whatever "new" subscription price they desire. Every year they send some BS paper stating they will automatically renew at twice the price that I have paid.

Every year I call them and tell them not to. I end up canceling all together and then they harass me with phone calls and mail until I finally renew at my original price with the promise that I will not have to go through this again. Of course, the next year rolls around and I have to go through all of their mess again.

Now, this may not seem so bad, but for those that have dealt with XM radio, you know that it takes an act of congress to get them to take their claws out of you. Maybe I can save someone else 5 years of an extremely abusive relationship. Say "NO!" Don't give them your credit card information and walk away with both your sanity and your money.

Like others' reviews below, XM Radio billed me for an extension of my service contract which I did not request. Also like others, I have sent an email to Sirius Radio executives, after failing to get the problem resolved through their billing department. I am guessing this problem has occurred to many more than those people who have taken the time to complain on this web site.

It is unfortunate that a company would resort to such underhanded billing practices to improve their balance sheet. I must at this time agree with those that suggest you do not provide XM Radio/Sirius Radio with any of your credit card information. As much as I enjoyed their service, I will not subscribe again because of their billing practices. I will now be installing Internet Radio into my vehicles.

My wife ordered me a 3 month subscription for Valentine's Day. She told them repeatedly that she only wanted the 3 months. She would not authorize a auto renewal, give them bank or account info. After no, no, no to the sales pitches, we finally got a 3 month deal. I used it, for the 3 months, and then it was over, I went back to my CDs. XM kept calling to renew, we kept saying no. Probably 4 or 5 times.

3 months after the last sales call, I receive a collections call. Telling me I owed x amount for almost 2 months of service. I said we only paid for 3 months, and that's all we wanted. They said we had to notify them we didn't want it any longer. I told them "We told you when we signed up we only wanted 3 months. I shouldn't have to call you again to say the same thing".

XM Radio gave us one price verbally by phone for a lifetime subscription, but added undiscussed fees when attempting to charge our credit card. We do not agree to the extra fees - just the original amount, so have refused to pay. They put us in collections. When I asked the collections agent to read their notes to me, the situation was not accurately documented, and our comments and requests and agreement to the original pricing were not documented.

We just fell into a generic didn't-follow-through-with-payment category to them. Unable to escalate to a qualified manager. Unable to obtain written records copy. Told they did not record the voice conversation. How is it they can ruin my credit record when they want to overcharge and not hold to our original verbal agreement?!?

XM thinks we need or want to be bludgeoned after every one or two songs with self promoting advertisements for 40s on 4, Savoy Express, XM Radio, train whistles etc. We pay for the music, not to repeatedly be exposed to advertisements. We know which channel we tuned to and can easily look at the receiver screen if we need a reminder. A selling feature was input to the programming people at XM. However, after numerous emails, they think so highly of their customers that they ignore the emails and do not acknowledged the messages.

I listen to 40s on 4 all day long and the promotional spots are more frequent than those on commercial radio. To date XM has shown zero interest in either being reasonable about the volume of their promotional drivel or at least acknowledging customer input.

As to all the customers with billing issues with XM. I too have had problems with their poorly trained customer service personnel spinning untruths about my account and payment options. I will NEVER give them my credit card information. I buy XM Radio prepaid subscription cards at Best Buy and use those to charge my account.

I just got off the phone with 8 customer service representatives. All of whom, I had to give the same information to i.e. phone number, name, address, reason for wanting to return the product, etc. I was constantly being put on hold, transferred to this department, to that department, and so on.

Finally, after an hour and a half, I get a hold of someone who actually is in the returns department. He then tells me that since I admitted that the radio is in good condition and that the reason for wanting to return it is because it didn't meet my expectations, that it is not a valid reason and therefore, I cannot return the product for any sort of refund. I was told that I could return it within 30 days upon first purchasing it. He then tells me that it is a $75 cancellation fee, of which was never mentioned to me when I purchased it, or by the other 7 people of whom I spoke with.

XM also double-charged my account, to which I now have to go down to the bank and have them print up a statement of my account, then I have to go to Kinko's to fax my statement to XM proving so. Trust me... none of this is worth the product or the service XM provides. They are fraudulent, and I will never recommend this product, company, or its services to anybody!

The trial XM sub that came with my new car has run out and since my wife and I plan on traveling the country, I thought I would subscribe to XM satellite radio. On their website it says the activation fee if you do it online is $9.95 and if you call them it would be $14.99. What a no-brainer! I proceeded to enter my info and checked the year sub. However, the activation fee said $14.99! I called and talked-eventually, and after a lot of swearing -- to Mexico. Or who knows where. They sort of spoke English, anyway. They said the website was "being updated" and the activation fee would be $14.99. Sorry about that. Sure.

I could care little about the extra five dollars, but this is deceptive and just not right. They should have honoured their mistake. Anyway, we decided to just set out cross country and take our chances with the radio reception. Thanks for nothing, XM.

I got a collection notice from XM on my second radio in my wife's car. The past due was $16.25. I called them to ask why I had not received a bill. They did not have an answer as I had cancelled the credit card that was used when I signed up for the second radio and they of course could not bill me monthly now. Then I looked online at my invoices. In Feb. 2009 after getting an invoice I renewed my primary radio for 2 years. $245. Now they are telling me that I only paid for 1 year and the rest was credited to my account for the next invoice on my primary radio.

They said that I needed to call them to tell them I wanted to pay for two years. I told them it was their invoice that offered me 2 years for $245 and I did not just pull that amount out of thin air. To make a long story a little shorter the CSRs that I talked to in the Bahamas were VERY difficult to understand and they would not get me a supervisor. They had NO flexibility with respect to getting the two years ironed out. I am over 60 years old and this is the worst customer service I have EVER dealt with, period. I think these people are running billing scams. As soon as I can get all the money straight I will no longer be a customer.

Don't get this service! I was happy for 3 years and then they decided to screw me. I was supposed to be charged $159 for a year of service. The gentleman RECORDED my voice authorizing a charge for that amount. He then proceeded to charge $390. I've called over 20 times to correct this over the past 10 days. It's still not resolved and I've only had $23 dollars to my name since. How can any company do this to its customers?!?!

I dealt with numerous customer service representatives (easily over 10) and although they put on their sweet voices they are unwilling to actually fix anything! Can you imagine being on hold for 2 hours, after asking for a manager/supervisor?!?! That happened to me (twice). If you get this service just realize that in the event of billing or other customer issue you WILL NOT be helped. Instead you'll get the finger!

I have 4 cars with XM Service. I recently sold a car and called to cancel the radio in it. I called 4 times to the 1-800 number and I was on hold for 20 minutes the first time and never talked to a representative. The other times I called I waited up to 28 minutes and I still have not talked to anyone. I then wrote 3 emails and received one response that they would call me SOON. SOON has not got here yet (3 days later). If I finally get in touch I will cancel all radios. This is the worse customer service I have ever seen!!! Very Unhappy Customer!!!